The first tennis Grand Slam is about to kick off in a few days, and the hype surrounding it is slowly reaching its peak. Everything is multiplied because of the Novak Djokovic saga, and even those who aren’t into tennis too much are closely monitoring the situation in Melbourne. Whatever happens, the opinions will be divided, but unfortunately, that’s the way things stand right now.
BetXchange will make a preview of both the ladies’ and the gents’ part of the draw, with a prediction for both competitions.
Gentlemen
Djokovic is Australia. For the moment. We really don’t know what will be the outcome of the whole situation with the best tennis player in the world, but at this particular moment, we are going to consider him present at the AO and make the preview with the Serb involved.
Djokovic is without question the top favorite to win this tournament, which would be the tenth time in his career to do so. He is AO’s biggest champion ever, and the reigning one. In the 2021 finals, Djokovic defeated the Russian, Daniil Medvedev, who will be the No.2 favorite according to the bookies.
Medvedev’s rise was tough and not so appealing as with some other players, but he managed to surpass all the NextGen talents and establish himself as the top replacement for the big three. He comes to Australia as the US Open winner, and the guy who stopped Novak in his quest of becoming the player with the most Grand Slam titles.
Alexander Zverev is in the mix as well. The Olympic champion from Tokyo deflated a little bit after that medal, but he should come back strong this year. For many, this is the defining moment of his career, and a season that will decide whether he becomes an elite player or just another wasted talent. Stefanos Tsitsipas is always present in these talks, but to be honest, we don’t see him among the favorites, the same as Rafael Nadal, whose time on the hard surface has passed. Rafa used to be a contender in Australia, but we’ve seen his output at this surface decrease as time went by.
Our pick here would be Medvedev, who is playing marvelous tennis and, unlike Novak, didn’t have all the off-field problems that could disrupt his focus.
Pick: Medvedev 1.65 at BetXchange
Ladies
Ashleigh Barty comes to Melbourne hoping to become the first local to win the title in the last 44 years. The pressure on the top seed is extremely high, especially because everyone expects her to provide consistency in winning the Grand Slams and cement her place atop the ladies’ competition. Barty already won the tournament in Adelaide and is in full speed ahead of Aussie Open.
Belarus, Aryna Sabalenka was near a major success in 2021, but was always one step short of the same. The powerful and mighty 23-year old is the second favorite according to all the bookmakers, ahead of Naomi Osaka, who will perform her return to tennis following a very tough 2021 in which she had to take a break and dedicate herself to fight with mental health problems.
Osaka is the reigning champion here, and the two-time winner; who knows what needs to be done to lift the trophy.
Other names in the mix are Emma Raducanu, the US Open winner, Garbine Muguruza, who has been playing slid lately, and Simona Halep.
Our choice here is Barty because she showed excellent form in Adelaide and has the weakest competition in the past several years. Of so many names in the ladies tennis, just a few are coming to the AO in propper form.
Pick: Barty 5.00 at BetXchange
